After the recent passing of music producer Quincy Jones at age 91, fans are looking back at a memorable interview he gave in 2018. In that interview, Jones shared some strong opinions about The Beatles, U2, and rock music in general. In fact, a new Beatles documentary is coming as well.
Talking about his first impressions of The Beatles, Jones called them “the worst musicians in the world” and criticized Paul McCartney’s bass playing. He also told a story about working in the studio with the band, where drummer Ringo Starr had trouble recording a short part of a song. While Ringo took a break, jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell came in and finished the part quickly. When Ringo returned and listened to the recording, he thought he’d done well, not realizing it wasn’t him playing.
“We taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song”. “He couldn’t get it,” Jones said. We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’“So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
Jones also commented on U2, saying he had a lot of love for Bono but felt that the band was under too much pressure, which hurt their music. He praised Bono’s work helping with global debt relief, calling it one of the best things he’d been part of, along with We Are the World.
After the interview was published, McCartney said Jones called him to apologize and claimed he never actually said those things. McCartney found the call funny, saying he would have responded with “F— you, Quincy Jones!” if he had. Despite everything, McCartney said he respected Jones, calling him a “crazy guy” but still an important figure in music.
Jones later issued a public apology, encouraged by his daughters. Even with the criticism, McCartney shared that he still respected Jones for his impact on the music world.
